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Where is Biodiversity?

By Dr Rebecca Overeem, Phillip Island Nature Parks Illustrations by Cara Richardson, Phillip Island Nature Parks Graphic Design by Kinsley Stofft, Phillip Island Nature Parks

First published in 2014 by Phillip Island Nature Parks © Text and graphics 2014. May be copied for educational purposes.

Can you guess where I am? Koalas in gum trees sleep the day away. Echidnas search for ants in the scrub.

I am in the bush.

Can you guess where I am? Frogs sing as they sit on floating plants. Fish hide amongst the reeds.

I am in a wetland.

Can you guess where I am? Seashells and sea urchins munch on algae. A blue-ringed octopus hunts for crabs and shrimp.

I am in a rockpool.

Can you guess where I am? Hooded plovers run quickly along the water’s edge. Sand-hoppers hide under flotsam and jetsam protected from the sun.

I am on a sandy beach.

Can you guess where I am? Snorkels help the trees to breathe.

Crabs scurry into their holes before egrets gobble them up.

I am in the mangroves.

Can you guess where I am? Short-tailed shearwaters and little penguins nest in the pigface and spinach. Copperhead snakes sunbake on the bare sand.

I am in a sandune.

I am in a sandune.

Can you guess where I am?Possums bounce from rooftop to rooftop.Magpies look for worms hiding in the lawn.

I am in a backyard.

Can you guess where I am? Bees buzz around flowers on the oval.A kookaburra family lives in a nest box made by students.

I am in a schoolyard.

Biodiversity is everywhere because biodiversity includes all the plants and animals of

an area.

Did you know that you can help protect biodiversity?Please try to reduce, reuse and

recycle. If we all try, we will stop the huge impact we have on the special

places we love.

GlossaryBiodiversity: Biodiversity is the variety of all life forms on earth - the different plants, animals and micro-organisms and their ecosystems.

Animals of Phillip IslandAnts: Ants play an important role in the Phillip Island bush as they help break down dead plant material. Amazingly ants use scent trails to smell their way back to their nest. Please be careful with bull ants as they have a painful sting.

Blue-ringed octopus: Please do not touch a blue-ringed octopus - they bite and can be deadly! Blue-ringed octopuses are normally a dull brown, but when disturbed the blue rings are seen on their bodies and arms.

Crabs: Crabs are fascinating creatures who run sideways, and grow very differently to humans. Crabs replace their shell by shedding the old shell (moulting) and growing a whole new shell.

Echidna: The short-beaked echidna is found on Phillip Island. Echidnas are a monotreme, which means they are very unique because they lay eggs and feed their young milk. The only other animal to do this is the platypus.

Egrets: Standing tall on long, thin legs, egrets have beautiful white feathers and a long beak for catching food such as worms, fish and crabs.

Fish: The short-finned eel, common galaxias and spotted galaxias are found on Phillip Island. The spotted galaxias can grow up to 20cm. Population numbers are low so they are classed as rare.

Frogs: At least five species of frogs are found on Phillip Island. Growling grass frog numbers are very low and the species is classed as threatened. The pobblebonk frog (or eastern banjo frog) has a very unique song: BONK!

Hooded plovers: A hooded plover is a small beach bird and numbers are so low in Victoria they are classed as vulnerable. During summer adults lay 1-3 eggs in the sand and the tiny chicks take five weeks before they can fly.

Koalas: Koalas eat about 500g to 1000g of gum leaves a day, but gum leaves do not give the koala much energy. Koalas sleep for 20 hours a day to concerve their energy.

Little Penguins: Once called fairy penguins, they are the smallest of the 17 penguin species and stand only 33cm high and weigh 1000g. They are the only penguin with blue and white feathers.

Sand-hoppers: Sand-hoppers are not normally noticed by beach goers, but at night they are very busy bouncing around munching on the seaweed that has been washed up on the beach.

Sea stars: Sometimes accidentally called star fish, they are not anything like a fish! Look closely into the rockpools on Phillip Island and you will see some sea stars that are a tiny 2cm and others up to 25cm across.

Seashells: A range of shapes and sizes, colours and patterns, the shells of Phillip Island are both beautiful and the creatures inside the shell are precious. Please handle them with care.

Shrimp: Ghost shrimp in rockpools have clear bodies so that they are invisible and hard to see by other animals that want to eat them. Ghost shrimp are very good at cleaning up all the waste of other animals.

Short-tailed shearwaters: Also known as mutton birds, short-tailed shearwaters weight around 550g and have an amazing 1 metre wide wing span.

Phillip Island plantsAlgae: Algae includes seaweeds and can range in size from microscopic to bull kelps that are 10m long and 30cm wide. Algae is very important as all it produces over 80% of the oxygen we breathe.

Floating plants: Floating plants may have roots in the soil but their leaves are floating on the surface of the water. Floating plants provide food and a home for many fish and wildlife.

Flotsam and jetsam: Flotsam and jetsam include all the items that we find on the high tide mark when we walk along the beach. If we look carefully we can sometimes see shark egg cases, shells and drift wood.

Gum trees: Gum trees provide important shelter and food for many animals that live on Phillip Island including koalas, bats, insects and birds. Some gum trees such as the blue gum can grow up to 50m high.

Mangroves: The white mangrove is found in Victoria. It is also known as the silver or grey mangrove. Although it is the smallest of the mangrove tree types, mangroves are very important trees which provide food and shelter for wildlife.

Reeds: Reeds are special plants that are able to live in water. Reeds are important in wetlands as they reduce shoreline erosion and provide food and a home for wildlife.

EcosystemsBackyard: Backyards vary in size and shape but what they all have in common is that we can encourage native animals to live happily in the yard by planting lots of native plants. Native gardens are beautiful, with a rainbow of coloured flowers attracting birds and insects.

Bush: Phillip Island only has a small amount of native trees, shrubs and grasses that have not been disturbed by clearing for farming and housing. Many native animals live and shelter in the plants that grow in the bush. For many years the Indigenous people who visited Phillip Island collected food and medicine from the bush.

Mangroves: The mangroves on Phillip Island are protected. The Churchill Island Marine National Park was created in 2002 and ensures the mangroves, seagrass and saltmarsh are protected from human actions. Please always stay on the tracks and do not disturb birds nesting and feeding.

Rockpools: Rockpools are lots of fun to explore and are full of animals and plants of different shapes and colours. But the plants and animals that live in the rockpools are very fragile and may be crushed when you roll over rocks, or dry out if taken out of water. Return all animals to the water as you found them.

Sand dunes: The sand dunes on Phillip Island are home to lots of plants and animals. The most famous animal is the little penguin who burrows in the sand to raise two chicks or moult. Please stay out of sand dunes as burrows easily cave-in, harming penguins and shearwaters.

Sandy beaches: Phillip Island has many famous beaches including Cape Woolamai and Smiths Beach. Humans use the beaches for fun and exercise, but hooded plovers need the beach to raise a family and find food. Please walk your dog along the water’s edge and away from hooded plover areas.

Schoolyard: Schools can be amazing places which include lots of native plants and animals. School gardens often include native trees, bushes and grasses. Your school could construct a frog bog and butterfly garden or build nest boxes to put into a safe place for native birds and possums.

Wetlands: The wetlands on Phillip Island may have lots of water in winter but may be dry in summer. Rhyll wetland is protected through a worldwide agreement. The birds that live there are protected on Phillip Island and when they fly north to countries including Japan and China.

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Delve into the amazing ecosystems of Phillip Island through this

beautifully illustrated ‘Where is Biodiversity?’ book designed for

early childhood learning. ‘Where is Biodiversity?’ will keep your

budding ecologist guessing until the end.

Please help protect our biodiversity by practicing the 3 Rs-

reduce, reuse and recycle. If we all try, we will stop the huge

impact we have on the special places we love.

‘Where is Biodiversity?’ was produced by Phillip Island Nature Parks through the generous financial

support of the Norman Wettenhall Foundation.

For more information go to:

www.penguins.org.au